Title: Revival of the Runes: The Modern Rediscovery and Reinvention of the Germanic Runes
Publisher: Inner Traditions
Author: Stephen Edred Flowers
Pages: 240pp
Price: $19.99 (paperback) / $13.99 (ebook)

The author Edred Thorsson/Stephen Flowers is controversial in the heathen community. This review is an attempt at just reviewing the contents of this specific book; however, when he gets to the point in the story in which his own work becomes influential, he inevitably has to include himself in this history. 

Revival of the Runes signals that it is intended for both of Flowers’ audiences by being published under a combined form of his real name and his pen name. His pen name (or religious name) Edred Thorsson appears on his magic books, and his legal name Stephen Flowers is on his more scholarly books. Revival of the Runes is aimed at both mystics and scholars.

This book is history, not a how-to magic book. It’s a history of a heathen and occult topic, so it may be of interest to some rune magic workers, but it’s not a spellbook nor really a pagan/heathen book. Those who have already studied a lot of rune lore will find this goes over a lot of the same territory. There are some interesting tidbits that may not have come to one’s attention by reading either only primary sources or only modern heathen magical books. The reader who already knows the general outlines of this history, but for whom history is not a special obsession, may find it a bit boring.

There are several tables and illustrations that will be useful to those trying to decode runic texts. For example, there’s a visual list of common medieval variants of the Younger Futhark. 

Like many history books, Revival of the Runes focuses on the personalities and life stories of historical individuals. The rune systems of Bure, Von Liszt, and so on are all basically one person’s UPG. They became part of history because they were successfully taught to others or written down. Near the end of this history of rune masters, Thorsson writes about his own work and biography. At times it reads as self-important, and there are repeated snipes at politics in academia, but for the most part it appears to be a factual history of his contributions on rune magic to the heathen, occult, and scholarly communities.

If that is the kind of book you want to read, then Revival of the Runes would be a good choice. It’s definitely not a book of instruction on magic or paganism, though, so if you’re looking for that then skip this book and choose another. 

[Erin Lale is the author of Asatru: A Beginner’s Guide to the Heathen Path (an updated version of her out of print classic Asatru For Beginners.) She published Berserkrgangr Magazine, writes book reviews for magazines, has been a gythia since 1989, adminned the MSN Asatru Group and admins the Asatru Facebook Forum. She writes the Pagansquare blog Gnosis Diary: Life as a Heathen, and the column Asatru Plus for Witches & Pagans Magazine. Her household includes 2 cats, Happy and Sweetheart. Her website is erinlaleauthor.com]